Why is Brooks Patterson so well liked?

[BrushStart]

I don't know how long you've lived downtown, or if it is the first place you've lived within the city...guess I'll just leave that part at that.

I couldn't name hundreds of people much less claim to know the mindblowing nutjobs that would think as you suggest. Freep and radio shows do not count. I agree with your last statement, but it doesn't really match what came before it.

I take it that you are a newer attorney, and perhaps one that does pesonal injury work? Not a knock at all, just wonderin'.

"Hundreds" was embellished, but I certainly know many and have reason to believe they are not isolated cases. I would also submit that I didn't invent those statements about the city, people have actually said those things during discussions about Detroit. Were they being facetious? Hard to ever really know, but I would never say that about any place. Yeah, it makes me mad. I won't comment about the rest other than I do live downtown now.

[bartock]

"Hundreds" was embellished, but I certainly know many and have reason to believe they are not isolated cases. I would also submit that I didn't invent those statements about the city, people have actually said those things during discussions about Detroit. Were they being facetious? Hard to ever really know, but I would never say that about any place. Yeah, it makes me mad. I won't comment about the rest other than I do live downtown now.

Must be one nutty suburb.

The point about downtown is that it has never been much of a residential area, even in Detroit's heyday. There are certain areas that you will get different temperatures from.

You identified yourself as an attorney, it ain't like I made it up.

[gnome]

for an attorney, someone sure seems to rest his entire argument on ancedotal evidence.

To lay the blame for Detroit's downfall on a single man who took office in 1993 would get you laughed out of court.

Try harder.

[lincoln8740]

He may not have quite brought them to AAA status, .

Now that is just hilarious!! that is like saying "I am so close to being a millionaire I just need to get out of this homeless shelter."

Detroit and AAA Status--great!!!

He was actually quoted as saying that bond status means shit--black mayors need to watch after that federal dollar coming from Washington

[Detroit Stylin]

Now that is just hilarious!! that is like saying "I am so close to being a millionaire I just need to get out of this homeless shelter."

Detroit and AAA Status--great!!!

He was actually quoted as saying that bond status means shit--black mayors need to watch after that federal dollar coming from Washington

Source please?

[lincoln8740]

Then perhaps you should tell L. Brooks that since it is he who has repeated this over and over and over again.

just trying to be nice to the new mayor

sounds good on the radio, but let's see him put some OC money into Detroit--Not that I am for that by any means

[lincoln8740]

Source please?

black enterprise january 1981

look it up on google books I couldn't copy and paste it

[Detroit Stylin]

Now that is just hilarious!! that is like saying "I am so close to being a millionaire I just need to get out of this homeless shelter."

Detroit and AAA Status--great!!!

He was actually quoted as saying that bond status means shit--black mayors need to watch after that federal dollar coming from Washington

Once again....

Source Please?

In school you don't write a paper in APA style then verbally tell your instructor to find the source you supposedly got your information from. That sounds slightly retarded so try again....

[lincoln8740]

Once again....



In school you don't write a paper in APA style then verbally tell your instructor to find the source you supposedly got your information from. That sounds slightly retarded so try again....

Shall I do it in the proper form for you?

god I have not done this for a long time so here goes....

Weatherspoon, Roger "Black Mayors on the Fiscal Type Rope" Black Enterprise Magazine January 1981 pg.32

I think missed a couple periods and I think the page number is in the wrong spot [[it was different from undergrad to law school) but is that good enough professor?

[Novine]

"In your opinion..."

It's my opinion backed up by the facts. Oakland County did rank well nationally looking at income, etc. But its failure to play a leadership role in helping the whole region prosper has led to our position today where metro regions around the county have long passed southeast Michigan.

"Nope - the region does not live or die by Detroit. No matter how much Detroiters may like to think so. OC will be just fine, thanks."

Delusional thinking on your part. OC is suffering the effects of the drag of Detroit on the regional economy. Worse, outside of SE Michigan, no one's heard or cares about Troy or Farmington Hills or any other portion of OC. They know Detroit. To them, Detroit is a dying city.

[R8RBOB]

just trying to be nice to the new mayor

sounds good on the radio, but let's see him put some OC money into Detroit--Not that I am for that by any means

Typical.......making excuses. I bring you the man's own words and you who don't know L. Brooks Patterson would make excuses for him. So funny. I bet when the great man was caught drinking while driving and the OC deputies took him home you probably said that someone drugged him and that is why he was impaired.

[R8RBOB]

"In your opinion..."

It's my opinion backed up by the facts. Oakland County did rank well nationally looking at income, etc. But its failure to play a leadership role in helping the whole region prosper has led to our position today where metro regions around the county have long passed southeast Michigan.

"Nope - the region does not live or die by Detroit. No matter how much Detroiters may like to think so. OC will be just fine, thanks."

Delusional thinking on your part. OC is suffering the effects of the drag of Detroit on the regional economy. Worse, outside of SE Michigan, no one's heard or cares about Troy or Farmington Hills or any other portion of OC. They know Detroit. To them, Detroit is a dying city.

I always find it funny when day-dreamers believe that their cozy suburb can survive even in the worst of times when we are seeing families and businesses leaving the area.

[Detroit]

My comment was mostly sarcastic. But L Brooks embodies the arrogance of regional irresponsbility and the "Screw YOU Detroit" mentality. He's certainly not the only one. I have no personal hate for OC, but as time has shown, OC is not an island; it is not immune from the collective fate of the region. Every underhanded whip at the city by L Brooks and OC have helped drive the entire place into the ground.

The reality of it is the city council and past mayors have had the same attitude toward Oakland County.

[313WX]

Ah yes, I'm really loving some of these frothy threads lately. They're definitely entertaining reads when you're bored.

[jackie5275]

Because he stood at the school house door way back when and tried to protect the shiny people of the OC from darkness, and has been figuratively standing at 8 Mile ever since still hard at work.

I think that's pretty accurate. But examine the question in the title of the post. Is he really well liked? Does getting enough votes to win equal liking him, or is it just that most OC voters are voting for the white Republican because that's what they are also?

[Hermod]

Oakland County = one of the highest per capita average incomes in the U.S. [[well, until recently) and 80+% white

Detroit = one of the lowest per capita income cities in the U.S. and 80+% black.

It's pretty damn easy to be more prosperous when you've got a built-in advantage [[like, say, starting out more prosperous in the first place). I wouldn't give ol' L. Brooks too much credit for the prosperity of the already wealthy, particularly in an era when the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and inequality is growing throughout the U.S.

Ummm, Detroit started out more prosperous in the first place. When we moved to Oakland County in 1954, I went from Denby High School which had magnificent laboratories, shop facilities, and athletic facilities to Rochester High School which had zilch. We had no athletic fields [[borrowed one from the city), no swimming pool, the drafting room was in a basement by the boiler room, the print shop was in an old coal bin, and the home econ facility had a single stove. If you wanted to take Solid Geometry as a senior [[required by most engineering schools) you brown-bagged and the teacher taught it on his and your lunch hour.

[mogo]

Nope - the region does not live or die by Detroit. No matter how much Detroiters may like to think so. OC will be just fine, thanks.

I live in OC, and I have to disagree with this. The reason I disagree is that when the rest of the country -that is, the people we would like to move here, spend their money and contribute taxes- do not distinguish between OC and Detroit. As nice as Royal Oak, Birmingham, Plymouth, and Gross Pointe might be to us, the rest of the country see's each of these places as a city-that-is-X-miles-from-Detroit.

You've seen people's faces when you tell them that your city is X miles from Detroit, right?

This is where I think L. Brooks [[and many others) was wrong about the significance of Detroit to OC and the region. In trying to kill Detroit, the region was hoist by its own petard.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Oakland County = one of the highest per capita average incomes in the U.S. [[well, until recently) and 80+% white

Detroit = one of the lowest per capita income cities in the U.S. and 80+% black.

It's pretty damn easy to be more prosperous when you've got a built-in advantage [[like, say, starting out more prosperous in the first place). I wouldn't give ol' L. Brooks too much credit for the prosperity of the already wealthy, particularly in an era when the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and inequality is growing throughout the U.S.

I don't think Oakland County is 80% white anymore. Many Blacks and Chaldeans, Hispanics, Asians etc... have moved there. I'd be willing to bet the percentage has dropped.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Nope - the region does not live or die by Detroit. No matter how much Detroiters may like to think so. OC will be just fine, thanks.

You need to leave them drugs alone Son, If Detroit goes down, everything surrounding it goes down too.

[R8RBOB]

I live in OC, and I have to disagree with this. The reason I disagree is that when the rest of the country -that is, the people we would like to move here, spend their money and contribute taxes- do not distinguish between OC and Detroit. As nice as Royal Oak, Birmingham, Plymouth, and Gross Pointe might be to us, the rest of the country see's each of these places as a city-that-is-X-miles-from-Detroit.

You've seen people's faces when you tell them that your city is X miles from Detroit, right?

This is where I think L. Brooks [[and many others) was wrong about the significance of Detroit to OC and the region. In trying to kill Detroit, the region was hoist by its own petard.

When I read comments like the one the dude from OC posted, I am reminded of Comerica and their exodus from Detroit..err Metro Detroit. When asked why the need to move to Dallas, the CEO stated that no one wanted to move here. He wasn't just talking about Detroit, he was talking about the entire region. Sure, Comerica could have done the old move to the suburbs but even the suburbs was a loser to Comerica. Look at the former KMart now Sears Holdings. The owner of KMart bought Sears merged the two companies and moved everything to Hoffman Estates, IL.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

When I read comments like the one the dude from OC posted, I am reminded of Comerica and their exodus from Detroit..err Metro Detroit. When asked why the need to move to Dallas, the CEO stated that no one wanted to move here. He wasn't just talking about Detroit, he was talking about the entire region. Sure, Comerica could have done the old move to the suburbs but even the suburbs was a loser to Comerica. Look at the former KMart now Sears Holdings. The owner of KMart bought Sears merged the two companies and moved everything to Hoffman Estates, IL.

It's because this is the most racially polarized area in the U.S.

[Detroit Stylin]

Just a ;ittle something for the crowd who likes to say Young was racist. If that be the case then look at this activist for equality and integration

Consider this:

Patterson attended the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and received a Bachelor's degree from the University of Detroit, and his Juris Doctor in 1967 from its law school[citation needed]. He was admitted to the bar as an attorney in 1967[citation needed]. In December 2006, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Kettering University in Flint, Michigan[citation needed].


In 1968 he was hired by the Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney's office as an assistant prosecutor[citation needed]. He left that office in 1971 and shortly thereafter ran for his former boss's position as Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney[citation needed]. He won the 1972 election and served as Prosecuting Attorney until 1988, when he left to practice law in the private sector[citation needed].
In the 1970s, he was a leader in the fight against court-ordered cross-district school busing for racial integration

[EastsideAl]

Now that is just hilarious!! that is like saying "I am so close to being a millionaire I just need to get out of this homeless shelter."

Detroit and AAA Status--great!!!

He was actually quoted as saying that bond status means shit--black mayors need to watch after that federal dollar coming from Washington

Source please?

Shall I do it in the proper form for you?

god I have not done this for a long time so here goes....

Weatherspoon, Roger "Black Mayors on the Fiscal Type Rope" Black Enterprise Magazine January 1981 pg.32

You know, if you claim to quoting from an article it might be a good idea to at least try to say something that reflects the article's actual contents. The Black Enterprise article you cite can be found here: http://books.google.com/books?id=HJY...OMC&pg=PA31&dq [[starting on page 31), and it does not say anything at all like you claim it does about Coleman Young.

First of all, although he is mentioned several times in the article, nowhere in it is Mayor Young quoted directly.

Second, the quote you allude to comes not from Young, but from someone named Aaron Spaulding, identified as "a black underwriter at Salomon Brothers" And the quote is in an entirely different context than the one you put it in.

Spaulding is disagreeing with the contention that racism is the cause of low bond ratings for poor and black governed cities. The part of the article about him states: "In the investment community, he contends, the ability to repay is what determines creditworthiness. The most significant factor for the survival of cities with black mayors, he believes, is the degree of their dependence on federal funds. 'If you take away the federal dollars [for economic development], people will wonder about the quality of government and whether the city can still run, with services being delivered and debts paid on time.'"

The article itself is a rather interesting view of the problems poorer cites, and some small towns, with shrinking economic bases, falling property values, declining tax revenues, and growing debt face in raising money through the bond markets for civic improvements, economic development and other projects. With a particular focus, of course given the focus of the magazine itself, on cities with black mayors. It's a little difficult to remember now just how novel such cities and mayors still seemed back in 1981 when the article was written.

Coleman Young is mentioned most prominently as a mayor who is trying to deal with the bond rating and money raising problems caused by the city's poor economy by teaming with business leaders like Henry Ford II and former GM Chair Tom Murphy to try to pull more private capital into the city.

[dtowncitylover]

"In the 1970s, he was a leader in the fight against court-ordered cross-district school busing for racial integration"

Mmmm...busing. Another genius idea. I try to be a progressive person, but forced integration is not the way to go. My mom could have gone to West Bloomfield High [[don't think for a minute she was a rich snob, she wasn't), but instead had to go to Pontiac Central. It didn't do anyone good anywhere. Better funding in predominately African-American schools so they had the same resources as their white counterparts would have been a better answer. I don't believe in "separate but equal" of course, but when the demographic cards are handed to you, you have to play without hurting the neighborhoods and communities.

[Hermod]

"In the 1970s, he was a leader in the fight against court-ordered cross-district school busing for racial integration"

Mmmm...busing. Another genius idea. I try to be a progressive person, but forced integration is not the way to go. My mom could have gone to West Bloomfield High [[don't think for a minute she was a rich snob, she wasn't), but instead had to go to Pontiac Central. It didn't do anyone good anywhere. Better funding in predominately African-American schools so they had the same resources as their white counterparts would have been a better answer. I don't believe in "separate but equal" of course, but when the demographic cards are handed to you, you have to play without hurting the neighborhoods and communities.

Two federal district judges ordered consolidation of school districts for attendance with busing across district lines to allow for more integration where a district was largely black. One of the cases was in Virginia where the judge ordered busing across the separate school districts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County. The purpose of this order and massive busing was to achieve integration of the virtually all-black City of Richmond schools. The second case was in Michigan where the judge ordered busing across multiple school districts in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties to allow for integration of the virtually all-black Detroit schools. Both case wound their way up to the U.S. Supreme Court where it was found that the district judges involed had exceeded their authority in their court-orders, so Patterson's opposition to the orders was upheld as the proper law.