Judge sides with city council on Cobo Deal

LodgeDodger · April-09-09, 12:57 PM

http://freep.com/article/20090409/NE...l+on+Cobo+deal

City Council needs to change their minds...

diver1369 · April-09-09, 01:42 PM

The question that I haven't seen asked is who put the language in the Cobo deal that required City Council to approve it? I suppose it's only right that CC have a say in the deal, it's just too bad that since they were included in the deal that they weren't brought into the negotiations or at least consulted on a regular basis. I believe the CC vote could have easily gone the other way if the CC was respected instead of looked upon as an afterthought.

**detroit313** · April-09-09, 01:47 PM

Sad...

<313>

**irish_mafia** · April-09-09, 02:27 PM

If it were not for all the businesses downtown that will be hurt this stupidity, I would say screw em, they deserve what they get. Of course, the poor bastards that invested in all the hotels and associated businesses downtown don't deserve this crap.

Let's get it in Troy before Chicago takes the deal.

At this point in time, nobody is going to invest in the city, it will just go back to slum [[not a far leap) and the people who want to help will be held back until it goes into receivership.

**Searay215** · April-09-09, 02:39 PM

Well you win Monica.....its all yours - You pay to fix, renovate and expand it....oh thats right you don't have any money.....too bad!!!! Time to move the Auto show to another venue....Thanks Monica, see if your husband will spring for some federal funds to do the job.

**firstandten** · April-09-09, 02:44 PM

All of the political theatre took away from legitimate questions the council had about the Cobo deal. Its just too bad the council couldn't have been more professional about it.

**Bobl** · April-09-09, 02:46 PM

A victory for Ms Conyers. A defeat for Detroit. Patterson will be looking to win the war, and bring the Auto Show and other events to Oakland County.
The problem is, it's not a game of one upmanship or a war. It might be the last chance to begin a sane, metropolitan approach to the region's problems.
Chicago will be glad to take the Auto Show, thank you, and the "us" vs "them" bullshit will continue from the Conyers people and the Patterson people.
Sad.

**sg9018** · April-09-09, 03:28 PM

Here is Patterson's response,

In-friggin’-credible!

"If they’re popping champagne corks in Detroit City Council chambers this afternoon, I would suggest to you it’s terribly premature. What City Council has done is overturn five years of hard negotiation that was Detroit’s last best chance to secure long term funding for Cobo Hall and frankly the North American International Auto Show.

"It is absolutely appalling to see what they’ve done to themselves. When Cobo Hall is shuttered like the nearby Ford Auditorium, City Council has nobody to blame but themselves for being so shortsighted.

"The legislation they defeated was the last best chance for Cobo Hall and the City of Detroit. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is; how badly I feel for the sensible citizens of the City of Detroit.

"I have no stomach, no appetite, no interest in going back to the table to rewrite a piece of legislation that would be satisfactory to Monica Conyers.

"When I get home from vacation, I’m going to call around to see if there’s any interest in attempting to move the venue of the North American International Auto Show to a site in the suburbs including Oakland County.”

and Cockrel will appeal the ruling.

LodgeDodger · April-09-09, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by diver1369

The question that I haven't seen asked is who put the language in the Cobo deal that required City Council to approve it? I suppose it's only right that CC have a say in the deal, it's just too bad that since they were included in the deal that they weren't brought into the negotiations or at least consulted on a regular basis. I believe the CC vote could have easily gone the other way if the CC was respected instead of looked upon as an afterthought.

Actually, Diver, they were. They even attended some of the planning meetings. They had the final say, but all those involved in the five years of discussions thought they were on board.

The council's rejection was political.

**R8RBOB** · April-09-09, 08:30 PM

First off, the judge in this case made the correct ruling. The state of Michigan gave City Council the ability to kill this deal and they did. I question the veto by Cockrel because I believe vetoes were used to kill a resolution, not approve it. That said, Cockrel should had secured the votes before the state signed off on this. He may not be the City Council president but he can still hobnob. Hell, if Kilpatrick can track down Barbara-Rose Collins at dinner to get her to vote to sell the tunnel, Cockrel could have done the same with this deal.

I am for a regional control of Cobo because Detroit can't afford it on its own. The state, Cockrel, Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne just have to go back to the drawing board.

As for Brooks' desire to move the Auto Show to Pontiac or anywhere else in Oakland County, dismiss this nonsense. Even if the folks from the Auto Show wanted to move it, it would be going to Chicago or perhaps Los Angeles. Comparing Pontiac to Chicago is like comparing a chick pea to a orange. It is Detroit or bust for the NAIAS.

**detroitbob** · April-09-09, 10:24 PM

IMHO, the 'fix' of Cobo Hall is another lipstick on the pig scenario. A new facility built near to downtown, on a site using some of the expanse of vacant land that surrounds downtown makes sense...the Cobo hall site is land locked and the Army Corp of Engineers already refused pilings to extend it over the river, a new city owned garage, opps, partially owned city garage, blocks crossing Congress St., going east over the Lodge doesn't seem to be in ther cards, although taking down the near diaster called the Hotel Pontch would make sense if this were a possibility. Remember, McCormick Place in Chicago is removed from downtown Chicago, and the Metro rail line that serves the complex is the most direct access along with sprawling parking which would obviously happen in a new facility built anywhere, including the burbs.

The area across from Motor City Casino makes sense as it is under-used. I'm sure that DTE would love to unload the facility they own over on on the Lodge...the Council is beyond help and the situation won't improve anytime soon. The tie in from downtown>midtown would be a boon to clean up a stretch of the city that has no real plans that I am aware of.

The sideshow called the Council will rock on doing degrees of damage that we can't imagine until, if, or when the Charter gets revised OR the city goes completely BUST and the State takes over. At this point that might be the best hope for a good housecleaning---and I never thought I would come to this conclusion, but after living in this town all my life and watching the decline accelerate to this point, it seems like this is the only way for any clean up to happen without more prolonged hijinks from Woodward and Jefferson. Is there something in the water down there? I remember Mary Beck and Jack Kelly were the butt of jokes, but their bickering and fighting pale by the currrent insanity.

The tragedy of the last Charter revision was the change of name, i.e. dropping 'Common' from the formal name.

**andyguard** · April-10-09, 02:13 AM

Can someone please explain to me why the ruling was so clear from the get-go? If I understand it right, Council didn't have approve of the deal, they could only choose not to approve it, which they did by passing a resolution. According to city charter, the mayor has a right to veto resolutions from the council [[aside from some specific cases), which he did. And from what I understand, there is no place in authority legislation that says he can't do that. So I guess I don't understand why it's so clear that he didn't have the authority to veto. I would understand if it if the legislation said he couldn't veto, and the battle was over legislation vs city charter, but it's not. I guess I don't see the conflict between the two. I'm not trying to make a point here, I'm just really trying to understand why some on here feel that it is clearly the right decision.

**Olddetroiter** · April-10-09, 02:44 PM

Originally Posted by R8RBOB

As for Brooks' desire to move the Auto Show to Pontiac or anywhere else in Oakland County, dismiss this nonsense. Even if the folks from the Auto Show wanted to move it, it would be going to Chicago or perhaps Los Angeles. Comparing Pontiac to Chicago is like comparing a chick pea to a orange. It is Detroit or bust for the NAIAS.

I agree. Even if Brooksie can come up with the meeting space, only Detroit has adequate hotel and entertainment facilities to support a large convention. Thereâ€™s no way the out-of-towners will want to waste their time shuttling between Detroit and Oakland County. And once the Auto Show leaves itâ€™s only a matter of time before the smaller conventions stop coming tooâ€¦ Itâ€™s not only â€˜Detroit or bustâ€™. Itâ€™s Cobo or bust. I canâ€™t see any way of coming up with enough to build a brand new facility.

As much as I dislike Kwame for what he did to Detroit, I think this would all be a non-issue if he was still mayor. He would either have influenced the original plan more or smoozed Monica into voting for it anyway. Plus Ken C would still be on the council which would mean another affirmative vote.

Iâ€™m afraid the $8.5 million Kwame cost the city could look like chicken feed compared to Monicaâ€™s possible legacyâ€¦. A derelict river front convention hall, bankrupt hotels and casinos, and businesses that moved downtown to participate in the Detroit renaissance fleeing back to the suburbs.

Stosh · April-10-09, 03:05 PM

Originally Posted by Olddetroiter

I agree. Even if Brooksie can come up with the meeting space, only Detroit has adequate hotel and entertainment facilities to support a large convention. There’s no way the out-of-towners will want to waste their time shuttling between Detroit and Oakland County. And once the Auto Show leaves it’s only a matter of time before the smaller conventions stop coming too… It’s not only ‘Detroit or bust’. It’s Cobo or bust. I can’t see any way of coming up with enough to build a brand new facility.

The Centerpoint location, which I'd speculate is the current home to GM Truck Product Center, has about 565 hotel rooms currently within 1.5 miles of it's location.

By comparison, the Marriott Ren Cen has 1,298 by itself.

**Novine** · April-10-09, 04:29 PM

According to news reports, there's about 4000 hotel rooms in Downtown Detroit proper. There's nothing like that number near any location in Oakland County. And do you think everyone coming to the event is going to rent a car or rely on the hotel transportation to get to the center? Or are they going to ride the non-existent transit services?

**softailrider** · April-10-09, 04:52 PM

Originally Posted by Stosh

The Centerpoint location, which I'd speculate is the current home to GM Truck Product Center, has about 565 hotel rooms currently within 1.5 miles of it's location.

By comparison, the Marriott Ren Cen has 1,298 by itself.

I don't believe that 565 number at all, you drive on Opdike Road and you see hotel after hotel. That Hilton Suites on Featherstone is huge, it must have close to 400 rooms, maybe more then that. There must be at least another dozen hotels out there.

**Novine** · April-10-09, 04:59 PM

Look at a map. The hotels on Featherstone are over 3 miles from Centerpoint. Are people going to walk down Opdyke to get to the center? Or ride the bus that doesn't exist? Or the light-rail that doesn't exist? They're all going to rent cars? No.

**Roq** · April-10-09, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by Olddetroiter

Thereâ€™s no way the out-of-towners will want to waste their time shuttling between Detroit and Oakland County.

Christ, you make it sound like Oakland County is as far away as Flint.

LodgeDodger · April-10-09, 04:31 PM

Originally Posted by Roq

Christ, you make it sound like Oakland County is as far away as Flint.

Well, Auburn Hills IS two hours from Detroit, according to the Motown nutcase.

**Olddetroiter** · April-10-09, 07:52 PM

Originally Posted by Roq

Christ, you make it sound like Oakland County is as far away as Flint.

Maybe not, but it sure seems like it during rush hour. I live in Oakland County near Pontiac and used to work in the Ren Cen. Allocate about 1 1/2 hours for the trip each way. That's 1 1/2 hours earlier the conventioneers have to get up in the morning and 1 1/2 hours less after-meeting party time. BTW don't look for time savings because you are going in the opposite direction as the working people. The traffic is heavy in both directions during rush hour.

**R8RBOB** · April-10-09, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by Olddetroiter

As much as I dislike Kwame for what he did to Detroit, I think this would all be a non-issue if he was still mayor. He would either have influenced the original plan more or smoozed Monica into voting for it anyway. Plus Ken C would still be on the council which would mean another affirmative vote.

For someone who served on the city council for years, Cockrel acts like he is a foreigner. As mayor he knows that he need votes and arm-twisting is allowed. Kwame Kilpatrick was a master at it. Especially with a council dominated by women. The deal to regionalize Cobo should not been signed off until Cockrel could have delivered the votes to make this happen. This disaster falls to the feet of the mayor.

**firstandten** · April-11-09, 12:07 AM

Originally Posted by R8RBOB

For someone who served on the city council for years, Cockrel acts like he is a foreigner. As mayor he knows that he need votes and arm-twisting is allowed. Kwame Kilpatrick was a master at it. Especially with a council dominated by women. The deal to regionalize Cobo should not been signed off until Cockrel could have delivered the votes to make this happen. This disaster falls to the feet of the mayor.

As much as I'm not in love with Bing this failure by Cockrel is very troublesome.

It just may come down to which flawed candidate will do the least amount of damage.

**kraig** · April-13-09, 07:40 AM

Instead of appealing the ruling, and losing in court again, maybe the Mayor should talk to City Council, at least Councilwoman Talabi, and find out what would make her agree to a deal. After all, he had her vote and lost it, which might suggest that there's a possibility that he could get it back.

It's obvious at this point that he's not going to win in court. He's just trying to save face and prolong this as long as he can.

The election is in 22 days. Why should I vote for Ken Cockrel. Monica Conyers is a disgrace to City Council and behaves like a fool. And yet, she is constantly getting the better of him which doesn't say much for his ability.

**THE FURY 617** · April-11-09, 06:20 AM

Originally Posted by LodgeDodger

http://freep.com/article/20090409/NE...l+on+Cobo+deal

City Council needs to change their minds...

This is what happens when you make a "hood rat" as a new city council president!!!

**PurpleHeart** · April-11-09, 07:13 AM

I've been saying all along:

This deal sucks and was dead from the get-go

There was not enough in the pot to get the city council to sign over Cobo

And that Ken couldn't override council!

Why doesn't the state and this newly formed authority just buy Cobo from the city. Make them an offer they can't refuse in this economy the city sure can use the cash. But try to take it over .... no this is a no brainer,

This is one of the most highly sought after pieces of real estate in Detroit and you just ain't going to waltz in there and take it over. At least not while Monica is calling the shots.

Way to go council!

Keep up the good work.