Nolan Finley's Sunday editorial

[BrushStart]

Finley's article has no value because it reports what everyone already knows. How many Metro Detroiters do not realize the state of affairs in Detroit? Banging on and on about it the way Finley does drives the wedge even deeper between the factions that need to cooperate to improve the city and region.

The problem is that Finley, and a host of other journalists, refuse to inspire the residents of this region to change the status quo. I don't mean be a cheerleader, and I don't mean "change" in the Obama campaign sense- I mean hammering out the actual issues plauging the region and pressuring our leaders to cooperate on major objectives.

The failures of this region seem so obvious to me. Most, if not all, of the failures stem from a lack of regional cooperation. The fact that the entire region cannot rally behind common causes results in extreme dysfunction, dissatisfaction, and growing angst. Living in Metro Detroit actually becomes a stressful experience.

The problems facing Detroit should not be "Detroit only" problems. They are actually regional problems because they have a tremendous impact on the region. Similarly, suburban problems affect the city, and Dave Bing should have a seat at the table next to Patterson and other suburban leaders when they discuss solutions.

Journalists like Finley could put pressure on the region's leaders to work together in a meaningful way to accomplish goals. Finley could help break down the barriers and point out the commonalities between Detroit and the suburbs and highlight how the successes and failures of each affect all of us. We can't even begin to turn things around while waging a civil war, especially with trumpeters like Finley fueling the war effort of both sides. The people of Metro Detroit are his fodder, left dead in the field.

Many of you have posted that Finley should have pointed out the causes of Detroit's decline. I say, who cares? At this point does it matter? You are going to have more arguments and fingerpointing if you keep looking backward. Let's look forward. We have some serious regional problems, let's find some solutions. And by solutions I mean tangible solutions. Chastising your sole teammate during the game is unhelpful at best. What can be fixed are things like dressing the region for success so it can attract employers and new residents, encouraging the intelligent use of resources, sharing responsibility for the management of services, cooperating on infrastructure, encouraging the mobility of residents back and forth between Detroit and the suburbs [[8 Mile should be transparent), combining political clout to divert resources to the region, and supporting each other's grass-roots initiatives to combat unwed teen pregnancy, drug use, poverty, crime, and racisim across the region.

If Nolan Finley focused his talents on spearheading regional cooperation in a positive way, he could be a hero. But as it stands, he is nothing more than a mouthpiece for dysfunction, informing the terminally ill about the symptoms of death.

[R8RBOB]

@BrushStart

Well said.

Finley spent the majority of editorial ripping the po' folk of Detroit, however, he slid in the real reason for his piece: regional government. Finley could have dedicated his editorial on making an Detroit regional government a reality but he knew that his editorial would fly with his suburban readers so he wrote a hit piece about the poor citizens of Detroit which would get suburban readers nodding in agreement.

The facts:

The suburbs are bleeding cash and not bringing enough in to maintain services. Today News had a story about the suburbs cutting services. http://www.detnews.com/article/20100...330/1408/local
Finley like the leaders of the region knows that Metro Detroit is drowning in red ink or blood and there is no solution to resolve this. Decades ago, the suburbs had fleeing Detroiters to build up their tax bases and develop the land and attract businesses. Now, that avenue is closed and they are hurting just like Detroit. Now they can consolidate their resources with another failing city but it is only a band-aid. Its just too bad that Finley didn't spend time making the argument for regional government. Maybe next time....LOL

[English]

I don't see where this debate is helpful. What did we accomplish by reading Finley's editorial and discussing it that's new, or that will have any effect on what we've all known for many, many years?

[BrushStart]

I don't see where this debate is helpful. What did we accomplish by reading Finley's editorial and discussing it that's new, or that will have any effect on what we've all known for many, many years?

It probably isn't unless Finley reads this and is motivated to write more "call-to-action" type pieces targeted at regional leaders and residents. However, now you've [[inadvertently?) raised the question of what would be helpful. I propose starting a joint-petition between Detroit and suburban residents to move for either more integrated regional cooperation in several key areas affecting the region, or the formation of a resource and administrative power-sharing regional government. We could also elect a DY member to draft a letter to regional journalists to support such an initiative to [[a) inform residents of the initiative, and [[b) put pressure on regional leaders to move earnestly and quickly to accomplish the initiative.

[rooms222]

Although it could be unpopular, if the legislature and the governor agreed, they could ram through many aspects of regional government without the need for a direct vote of the people.

Look at sections 27 and 28 of the Michigan Constitution

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%2...nstitution-VII

[rondinjp]

Although it could be unpopular, if the legislature and the governor agreed, they could ram through many aspects of regional government without the need for a direct vote of the people.

Look at sections 27 and 28 of the Michigan Constitution

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%2...nstitution-VII

Wow, section 28 is a very powerful tool for the state legislature. I wonder if the state has ever considered using it to help turn the metro area around.

[MCP-001]

Wow, section 28 is a very powerful tool for the state legislature. I wonder if the state has ever considered using it to help turn the metro area around.

In an election season, this is VERY improbable.

Elected officials want to garner as little attention outside of their races as possible.

[Wesley Mouch]

So does anyone have ideas on how to solve any of the three 'i's?

[Crumbled_pavement]

So does anyone have ideas on how to solve any of the three 'i's?

Yes, I got lots of ideas of how to solve those issues. The only thing that has any realistic chance of actually happening is the complete collapse of Detroit's government. Any other idea may be good, and may work if implemented, but is a 'pie in the sky' dream as it will never actually come to fruition.

[Wesley Mouch]

Crumbled: I too wonder if a collapse wouldn't be best. Would help wipe out the avoidance of 'I'x 3 in this thread. We shall rise from the ashes.

[ggores]

I read the posts in this thread before I read Finley's op-ed. I was expecting something full of vitriol and mean personal characterizations of Detroiters. What I found was a clear description of the state of Detroit that most people, including Detroiters, would recognize as correct.

Yeah, no shit. The guy's pretty spot on. Anyways, seems that receivership is the thing needs done. Don't hold yer breath tho', unless you want to wait for the complete collapse of that town.

[canuck]

It probably isn't unless Finley reads this and is motivated to write more "call-to-action" type pieces targeted at regional leaders and residents. However, now you've [[inadvertently?) raised the question of what would be helpful. I propose starting a joint-petition between Detroit and suburban residents to move for either more integrated regional cooperation in several key areas affecting the region, or the formation of a resource and administrative power-sharing regional government. We could also elect a DY member to draft a letter to regional journalists to support such an initiative to [[a) inform residents of the initiative, and [[b) put pressure on regional leaders to move earnestly and quickly to accomplish the initiative.

Yup. Both the burbans and urbans will have to come to the plate.

[maxx]

Damn straight, Ravine....paying taxes...That's one of the costs of living in a civilized society. But Nolan Finley's cult keeps telling us we need to cut taxes, and you wonder why any of us scoff at his message. And please explain the difference between absent fathers in Detroit, and the absent father of the Palin grandson, a grandson who last we heard, is getting by on that "government health care" that Finley and the sick cult of Americanus Republicanus is dead set against.

From what I hear, Sarah is making enough money to take care of her developmentally challenged child and Bristol's. So who needs Levi? The same can't be said for many Detroiters.

[Crumbled_pavement]

Crumbled: I too wonder if a collapse wouldn't be best. Would help wipe out the avoidance of 'I'x 3 in this thread. We shall rise from the ashes.

It's far from the best idea, but it's the only realistic idea.

[maxx]

Do you really think a multinational company looking to locate in Detroit draws the line along 8 Mile and Telegraph roads and says "okay if the people within this arbitrary boundary don't meet this arbitrary level of education then we will go to Troy?"

I tell kids who are taking algebra and geometry that those classes are intelligence tests. If you can do higher math, an employer concludes that you can be trained to do what they need you to do.
Businesses look for all sorts of amenities in cities they plan to invest in. Even a park can spur development.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/ar...5highline.html
"...The High Line’s success as an elevated park, its improbable evolution from old trestle into glittering urban amenity, has motivated a whole host of public officials and city planners to consider or revisit efforts to convert relics from their own industrial pasts into potential economic engines.."

[Hermod]

Regional cooperation and consolidation only make sense if you are going to realize economies of scale. Will a tri-county school system, tri-county police force, or ti-county fire/EMS department be cheaper than the current systems? Probably not. The various governments in the counties are losing money now. What is the benefit of consolidating with a massive money-sink like Detroit?

It might make sense for Oakland, Macomb, or both to do internal consolidation and eliminate the local government entities in the counties in favor of a unified county-wide municipality [[like Fairfax County in Virginia). You might get some economies of scale out of that.

[canuck]

I'm afraid the receivership thing goes a long way toward establishing how a majority "black civic leadership" has not been able to manage a once proud cosmopolitan city. OK, maybe the task was not taken as dutifully as could have been. But the region as it is now bears a shared responsibility. To abandon Detroit to the convenient cliché of incompetency=repeated black administration and popular majority is one more insult that serves the nay-sayers agenda.

It is like the Tea Partyers claiming they want to do away with government, one step further than your more radical republicans. In reality, they all are against government interventionism [[rules and regulations) but depend heavily on contracts with the government [[pork barrell).

OK, it is easy to see how Detroit was mismanaged, but back in 1970, how many friends did Coleman Young have in state and federal government to stake claims for the population? Detroit was already experiencing a decline in its monoindustry long before the riots, and subsequent administrations inherited the ungrateful task of propping up a city with lower prospects for renewal than any other its size. Then came competition from the japanese, etc...

OK, Detroit is in a fix!? What now?

[maxx]

I think Corey Booker's example in Newark is a good one to follow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Booker
"...One of the mayor's first priorities was to reduce the city's crime rate. Booker appointed Garry McCarthy, former Deputy Commissioner of Operations of the New York Police Department, as the director of the Newark Police Department.[28] Public safety in Newark has been overhauled under Director McCarthy’s lead. A new Central Narcotics Division was created as well as a Fugitive Apprehension Unit which has been responsible for the capture of 11 out of 12 Most Wanted Felons in Newark. In addition, major technological advances have been made to crime-fighting initiatives such as citywide camera and gunshot detection systems. Community-oriented and privately funded programs such as the Crime Stoppers and Gun Stoppers anonymous tip lines have made a important impact in crime prevention and apprehension of criminals in Newark. Crime reduction has been such a central concern to the Booker Administration that Booker, along with his security team, was known to personally patrol the streets of Newark until times as late as 4 a.m. early in his first term.[29]..."

[eastsideguy]

I'm so glad that somebody with as much class as Nolan Finley stepped up and spoke the truth. I am a long time Detroiter, and have several of these bad eggs living on my block. I'm tired of fighting for my city. The only reason I am still here is because I can't bring myself to walk away like so many of my neighbors have. This neighborhood used to be really nice. Now it has been infiltrated by scuzzy lowlifes from other burned out neighborhoods. You know the type, dead grass, half naked kids running loose, cars with radios blasting at all hours of the night. It is a sad state of affairs. I really am at the end of my rope. I don't want to move away, but there is only so much I can stand.

[DetroitPole]

Far be it from me to question to angelic motives of Nolan Finley, though he does not appear to have a shred of goodwill about him, but I call bullshit on his call for regional government. Why did he not elaborate? He was trying to appear lofty and moralistic but I seriously doubt ANY form of regional government would be acceptable to him. Other than perhaps Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties with equal voting power, with Detroit excluded as a municipality and not a county. He also doesn't seem to see any codependancy between the city and suburbs, only that Detroit refuses help from the benevolent suburbs. In reality the ill-will is mutual, and the need on both sides is mutual. Suburbs aren't doing great either, buddy.

It is very telling that he just drops that line in and offers no further details whatsover.

Alright buddy, if you're reading this, we'd love to hear your followup on regional government.

[mikeinmotown]

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100919/OPINION03/9190309/The-three-I-s-of-Detroit-s-decline

I read this in the Detroit News this morning and I would like to propose my own three I's of Southeast Michigan's decline: Incompetence, Idiocy, and Irritation.

"Look how screwed up Detroit is. Why can't those people get their act together?" This is the general message of blogger Nolan Finley's opinion editorial. To the appeal of his followers, Finley loves to point out just how far and fast Detroit is sinking. He says "Let's get real" and asks what kind of jobs Detroit is going to attract with its residents. In other words, he's saying Detroit can't attract any jobs. Hate to break it to you Mr. Finley, but you and your readers need take a look in the mirror. Finley describes the suburbs as having to save Detroiters by throwing them a lifeline, when in fact, the entire region can't save itself from itself. It's like a drowning person trying to float on the back of another drowning person. Hint: WE’RE ALL STILL DROWNING!

As suburban Detroit points its fingers and chastises the City of Detroit, the rest of the world points its collective fingers and laughs at all of Southeast Michigan. Our region has become a running joke, and yes, that includes the great Oakland County.

Thus, my first "I" is Incompetence. The entire region is comprised of incompetent leaders and an electorate too idiotic to realize that the region is dying. This region can't even complete simple projects to make itself competitive with other metros. It is totally incapable of helping itself. Like a frog in boiling water, Metro Detroit is oblivious to its own demise. People like Finley are standing above the pot, pouring salt into the water causing it to boil faster. His article accomplishes nothing except to stir up more destructive divisiveness and infighting. Somehow, people like Finley think Detroit is all that's screwed up, but fail to see the forest through the trees. This is no longer a City of Detroit issue, Finley. The suburbs are bleeding residents and people at a rapid pace. Over 80,000 lost in the last decade alone and obviously accelerating. What are you doing Mr. Finley other than using the disaster that is Detroit as a benchmark to gauge the success of an entirely dysfunctional region in the throes of its own massive failure? Incompetence is across the board.

Next, we have Idiocy, for all the people in Detroit and the suburbs who think that they can save themselves without the other. Detroit, you can’t. I don’t care how much you dislike the folks across 8 Mile, they have the money that needs to be invested here. Suburbs, this region doesn’t exist without Detroit because nobody wants to live in a region that has no city. The series of strip malls lining your street are not attracting people and businesses. What you think of as “nice and clean” is actually “tiresome and boring.” Sorry... Keep stalling regional cooperation and there’s no hope at all for Southeast Michigan. Mr. Finley, you’ve just been nominated to turn out the lights.

Lastly, is Irritation. This is because living in this region is irritating. It is irritating to wake up and read a worthless, divisive piece like Finley’s with my Sunday morning coffee. Most people with any sense have already left Metro Detroit. I now have more friends in Chicago than I do Detroit, and they can’t figure out why I stay. To be honest, because I love Detroit, but if people like you, Finley, keep driving a wedge between the independently failing parts of this region, the rest of us are gone too. Everyone has a limit. Stop irritating people and start INSPIRING people. This region is not going to turn itself around with more of the same animosity towards itself.

Amen, bro, you got it right! Nolan is an ass and always has been.

[gdogslim]

Does this mean that Nolan Finley is a Paper Pushing Pimp?
He is using race, class, socio-economic status and educational level to
make money for himself and the News. Just a thought, although I agree with a lot of his views.

[swingline]

Warning: kind of a long winded post.

Yesterday’s Detnews blogs provided an example that perfectly made Mr. Finley’s case from his column.

First, lest I be cast as a Finley shill, I humbly state that I think that most of his politics, economics and business views are flat out wrong. In fact, while he can sometimes argue with a modicum of apparent bipartisanship, too often he lapses into disrespectful and destructive name calling when castigating liberal positions. Mr. Finley is obviously smart but you wouldn’t know it when he constantly exhibits the need to paint Pres. Obama as some kind of raving, radical, anti-business socialist hell-bent on transforming our country into an unrecognizable place; a place where everybody gets a government check and death panels are a reality. When he is in this mode, Mr. Finley’s opinion-making is destructive and divisive.

That said, Mr. Finley’s recent column – in a perfectly reasonable and perceptive tone – was devoted in part to outing and confronting what he called Detroit’s isolationism. He said:

“Isolation is the most dangerous element in this poverty plant. The more dire Detroit's circumstances become, the more suspicious its citizens are of "outsiders." Bing found that out at his community meetings. A shockingly high percentage of the audience believed he was really crafting a sinister plan to let suburban rich guys take over the city.”

In response to the Finley column, longtime Detnews blogger, Rev. Robert Smith, Jr. of New Bethel Baptist Church [[the well-known church led by Rev. C.L. Franklin for many years), submitted a post. http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/politicsblog/index.php?blogid=16709 Rev. Smith is highly respected and has been at New Bethel for 30 years. He is involved in countless ministries that aim to improve Detroit. Much of his ministry over the years seeks to combat the dropout [[Mr. Finley’s “ignorance” point) and illegitimacy rates that plague Detroit. All good stuff. His blog posts are often heartfelt, reasoned and illuminating. But not all of them. Yesterday, Rev. Smith responded to Mr. Finley with a somewhat rambling and unfocused post [[yeah, I know that my posts can have the same flaws) that included this paragraph that addressed Mr. Finley’s lament about Detroit isolationism:

"He is a long way from reality, because reality is more than the facts. The facts are just the open circumstances, but they don't tell what the character of the city is or how it came to this point. Finley needs to look behind the citizens that believe that Mayor Dave Bing is trying to give the city to outsiders. Look at how many cities have gone from being controlled by poor and middle class blacks to being controlled by upper class whites after the city was revitalized and blacks could no longer afford to live in it.” [[Emphasis supplied)

Huh? What cities is he talking about? Rev. Smith is apparently claiming that Detroiters’ distrustful isolationism is justified because white folks have wrested control of “many cities” from blacks after those cities have been revitalized. This is a complete and total myth. No such cities exist. There is not a single city in this country that is or was once majority black and governed by black politicians that has been "revitalized" in some kind of way and then reverted to white political control. It simply hasn’t happened. Is this an honest mistake by Rev. Smith or his he purposely being intellectually dishonest?

Moreover, is Rev. Smith preaching this kind of irresponsible falsity to his congregation on Sunday? If so, then it is no wonder that seemingly rational black Detroiters harbor a manic phobia about white “suburbanites at the gate” anxiously awaiting the first chance to dash in, displace as many blacks as they can and reclaim their homeland. When Rev. Smith perpetuates falsehoods like this he gives cover to and validates racist misconceptions about whites as a group. What material difference is there between Rev. Smith stoking this kind of completely irrational belief and some white politician suggesting that black men are more prone to committing sexual assault so whites should keep their daughters away?

Rev. Smith made Mr. Finley's isolationism point perfectly. Our region has to get past wasting time on such bogus matters. More is expected of leaders like Rev. Smith. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Finley responds.

[bailey]

Finley does not sound like someone even hoping for change; he used everything but the "N" word to describe Detroiters.

From The Detroit News: http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/p...#ixzz10BvDwYcK

I was wondering if anyone was going to post the rev's "rebuttal". Personally the above was my favorite quote. Nothing like making Finley's point for him there Rev.

The entire city of boston and all of it's inhabitants can fit in the vacant land of Detroit...yeah displacement is definitely an immediate concern.

[R8RBOB]

It is apparent that Finley had two agendas:
1) give a tough love assessment to the residents of the city of Detroit. The beginning of Finley's editorial was brutal but true. Brutal because as a Detroiter, I am lumped in that group of uneducated, illiterate citizens that Finley highlighted in his piece. Now I know I am not uneducated nor illiterate, but I'm a Detroiter and if I was to mention that I was a Detroiter to an outsider then he or she is going to look at me as uneducated and illiterate because I am a Detroiter. It is why I frowned on Finley's editorial because it was so one-sided that it doesn't allow one to defend the Detroiters that don't fit Finley's requirements for the three I's.

2) to promote regional government. Make no mistake, the only thing that matters is the bottom line. Those rich suburban businessmen may not be using Dave Bing in their takeover plans for the city but don't think they don't have eyes for Detroit. As it stands, Detroit is not valuable because you have thousands and thousands of poor people, mostly Black. Poor people for the right price can be moved into the river if possible to take the land. Enough of the conspiracies stories...... Finley is just a newspaper editor but he has the ears of political leaders like L. Brooks Patterson, Robert Ficano and Dave Bing and they are all telling him the same thing: the region is strapped for cash. No longer can Oakland County can build a wall to protect itself from Detroit's problems. The problems that plague Detroit is now their problems and Brooks know this. As for Finley, he is a newspaper man, he only repeats what hear from others.